Dissertation Research: Organizational Innovation in SETI, the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence: Ethnographic, Historical, and Policy Perspectives

论文研究：SETI 的组织创新，寻找外星智慧：民族志、历史和政策视角

• 批准号: 0002136
• 负责人: Kim Fortun
• 金额: $ 0.8万
• 依托单位: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-08-15 至 2002-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0002136&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Organizational; Innovation; SETI

This dissertation project proposes research on the origins and development of SETI, a modern scientific field comprised of several highly innovative research programs and organizations. SETI (the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence) is a branch of radio astronomy in which researchers utilize large radio telescopes, small satellite dishes, or optical telescopes to search for electromagnetic signals of intelligent origin. Study of this scientific field offers greater understanding of scientific organization, practice, and the relationship between science and the public. Specifically, this project posits that SETI is a unique scientific activity in which researchers are inventing: 1) new organizational forms; 2) new scientific practices infected by feedback from the public; and 3) new ways of engaging and enrolling the public in basic scientific research. SETI is a scientific activity that explicitly addresses issues of deep cultural significance. SETI researchers often point out that demonstrating the existence of extraterrestrial intelligent life would have profound effects upon cosmological, religious, and popular conceptions of our place in the universe. In part because of this, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) terminated direct funding for SETI programs in 1993. SETI scientists and researchers have therefore been forced to appeal directly to the public to obtain the funds, expertise, and other resources necessary to carry out search programs. This has resulted in a wide proliferation of innovative organizational forms within the SETI research community. This project will explore: 1) the diversity of organizational forms through which SETI research is carried out; 2) how these organizational contexts affect scientific practice; and 3) how these different organizational structures have cultivated/limited public involvement in SETI. This project proposes 11 months of field research to: 1) interview and interact with researchers affiliated with SETI organizations throughout the continental United States; 2) conduct archival research at organizations that have sponsored SETI research work; 3) participate in various public presentations, conventions, and conferences at which SETI scientists interact with members of the general public; and 4) map the ways that SETI is understood by enthusiasts and in popular culture. Primary data for this study will be collected through more than 40 in-depth, focused interviews conducted with SETI researchers, volunteers, and enthusiasts. In order to frame informants' perspectives within the larger historical and social context in which SETI research is done, interview data will be supplemented with ethnographic data and archival sources. This research design is built upon site visits and preliminary interviews conducted between March and October of 1999.

该论文项目提出了有关SETI的起源和发展的研究，SETI是一个现代科学领域，由几个高度创新的研究计划和组织组成。 SETI（寻找外星智能）是射电天文学的一个分支，研究人员在其中利用大型射电望远镜，小型卫星菜肴或光学望远镜来寻找智能起源的电磁信号。对这个科学领域的研究为科学组织，实践以及科学与公众之间的关系提供了更深入的了解。具体而言，该项目认为SETI是研究人员发明的独特科学活动：1）新的组织形式； 2）由公众反馈感染的新科学实践； 3）参与和招募公众参与基础科学研究的新方法。 SETI是一项科学活动，明确解决了具有深厚文化意义的问题。 SETI研究人员经常指出，证明外星智能生活的存在将对我们在宇宙中的地位的宇宙，宗教和流行观念产生深远的影响。因此，国家航空航天局（NASA）于1993年终止了为SETI计划的直接资金。因此，SETI科学家和研究人员被迫直接向公众呼吁，以获得进行搜索计划所需的资金，专业知识和其他必要的资源。这导致了SETI研究社区中创新的组织形式的广泛扩散。该项目将探索：1）进行SETI研究的组织形式的多样性； 2）这些组织环境如何影响科学实践； 3）这些不同的组织结构如何培养/有限的公众参与SETI。该项目提出了11个月的现场研究：1）与美国大陆的SETI组织的访谈并与研究人员进行访谈并互动； 2）在赞助SETI研究工作的组织中进行档案研究； 3）参加SETI科学家与公众互动的各种公开演讲，惯例和会议； 4）绘制发烧友和流行文化中SETI理解的方式。这项研究的主要数据将通过与SETI研究人员，志愿者和爱好者进行的40多个深入的，重点的访谈收集。为了在进行SETI研究的较大的历史和社会环境中构建线人的观点，采访数据将补充民族志数据和档案资源。该研究设计建立在1999年3月至10月之间进行的现场访问和初步访谈之上。